Deciphering Lovers
by Ashplosion
Summary: SilMil. Alternatively titled "An Exploration of the Long-Standing Animosity Between Clergy and Royalty." Not titled that because it's too long. Minako's father pushes her to hold a public ceremony on Venus with Rei... but Minako and Rei have been married four years already!


"Minako, when are you getting married, already?"

"_Father_," Minako cried, "I've been married for four years!"

"Yes," the king replied angrily, "and the ceremony was held in the Moon Kingdom! When are you going to have a ceremony on Venus, so your people can celebrate your love with you?" Minako sighed. Rei's discomfort at the very public revelation of the nature of their relationship had been hard enough on them with the first ceremony. Minako couldn't imagine asking her wife to go through that again.

The blonde sighed, trying to put the words together to explain the situation to the king. Rei's father had very pronounced views on racial purity, and he had not been happy his daughter introduced a foreigner to the Martian temple. Minako once realized she didn't know her father-in-law's real name; Rei simply referred to him as "King Fury." Minako hadn't been able to wrap her head around Mars at first. Why was King Fury known as King Fury, when Mars was ruled by religion? If anything, shouldn't King Fury be known as Priest Fury? That's really all he was!

Minako's own family had chastised her over their relationship in the past. Her father had expressed his distaste for Martians in general, once asking Minako why she couldn't have picked someone "civilized." Her mother had warned her with the most dangerous tone the older woman could muster to "remember Venusian laws on sexual purity before marriage." Marriage barely existed on Mars, and it had taken Rei some time to understand the concept. She was eventually able to process the information and link it to a similar commitment ceremony on Mars… although her description had included a blood ceremony that thinking about made the blonde cringe. Minako was fairly certain, however, she'd had a more difficult time keeping her hands off Rei during their engagement than the other way around.

Rei wasn't exactly the "conquer and take the spoils of war" kind that most Venusians thought of Martians as.

"Dad," she started gently. "When that page leaked out news of your rash, how did you feel?" The king instantly blushed so dark, Minako was fairly certain his beard would turn red.

"I don't understand what my rash has to do with your marriage."

"She's a very intensely private person, Daddy. Martian customs are very different from ours."

"You're lucky you got married at all, if you want to go waving around the customs of a group of savages."

"_Father_," the princess replied in a warning tone, narrowing her eyes. "Have you forgotten all Rei has done for this planet? Do not refer to her or her people in anything less than a civilized fashion again." She sighed. One step forward, four giant leaps backwards. At least her mother had come around and grown quite fond of her daughter-in-law. "Martians prefer to keep their public lives and private lives separate. If it's important to the person, it's pretty much meant to stay in the private life. The civil wars on Mars have died down, but it comes from back then. All clergy kept their relationships secret, lest an enemy kidnap a partner or child… or worse." The king nodded and sighed.

"Look, Minako… she's a fine young woman. While I still can't get used to the idea of you marrying a Martian, I must admit that young woman has led Mars to an era of peace I have not seen in my 500 years of existence. But that peace leaves the needs of your own people to be answered. Why not have a public ceremony on Venus?" Minako met her father's eyes.

"Daddy, why have a public ceremony on Venus? Venus knows we're married. They love Rei. She respected on Venus almost as much as she is on Mars!" The king narrowed his eyes and decided to try a different approach.

"I just… Minako, we should have technically had you excommunicated from the Temple of Venus. I don't want this weighing on my conscience as I approach my older age." The princess glared at him.

"What are you talking about?!"

"You know Venusian beliefs on sexual purity and love before marriage."

"I do. And I don't think I understand. We were _both_ virgins on our wedding night!" The king blushed deeply, starting to feel slightly guilty for line he was giving his daughter.

"Yes, but Honey, you were not married within the Temple of Venus. We've turned a blind eye to it for four years because you were married, and the Lunar Court as well as anyone with their right mind considers you married… but our faith does not."

"And what about the fact that the Martian faiths consider us married?"

"The Martian faiths have nothing to do with the Temple of Venus." Minako sighed.

"Fine. Let's say we do marry—again—in the Temple. Why should it be public? Our wedding on the Moon was public!"

"You're royalty, Minako! Our family has held public ceremonies for twelve generations!"

"And we had a public ceremony. If we do choose to renew our vows—and I wish you would take Rei's feelings into consideration here—then it will be private and for the purpose of my faith only. Rei is not Venusian, nor does her faith think of marriage as a necessity for love to be fostered and nurtured. They see love as something beautiful to be celebrated… not confined."

The king sighed and hung his head. "Minako… I just want to present my little girl to her beautiful bride in the most sacred place on this planet and not worry about bringing the wrath of Venus down on our heads."

"You want to pacify your own beliefs." Minako and the king both jumped at the sudden intrusion on their conversation. The princess smiled at hearing her wife speak Venusian; she'd always loved Rei's slight accent. "Don't worry," Rei tacked on, cutting the king's sputtering short. "I am willing to renew our vows. On Venus. In the temple. But make no mistake, Dad," Rei said with a slight smile. "I would prefer our renewal remain private. I have no interest in marrying in a Venusian temple, but I will pacify your beliefs, as well as nurture the faith I know Minako has." Violet eyes cut over to the blonde in question. Minako blushed.

"This is why we married on the Moon, Daddy. With differing faiths and beliefs, it was hard to plan the wedding we did have, let alone planning two."

"Two?" the king asked curiously.

"One for the Temple of Venus, and one for my faith," Rei replied, sitting next to her wife. "After six weeks of trying to figure out how to work around it, we chose to have Luna officiate and perform a religion-neutral ceremony." The king nodded slowly as he studied his daughter and daughter-in-law. He knew he could be callous to the Martian more often than not, but he genuinely liked the dark-haired woman. She had given quite a lot to be with his pride and joy, after all. The girls spent the majority of their time on Venus, and most of the wedding had a Venusian twist… except of course that damn blood ceremony. He grimaced as he recalled the only real Martian touch to the wedding. He hadn't even heard the girls speak Martian in well over a year.

"I thought marriage didn't exist on Mars," the king asked carefully as he continued his thoughts on his daughter-in-law. In short, Rei sacrificed constantly so that Minako could have. The Priestess of Mars lived a very Venusian lifestyle, despite her distaste for it. His daughter's attempts to return the favor were constantly met with a stilted "Don't you dare" and a warning look. The duo was about compromise, but Rei wanted Minako to compromise as little of herself as possible.

"It doesn't, really. Some of our faiths have their own commitment ceremonies, but marriage as an institution does not exist."

"We got married because of me," Minako tacked on guiltily. Rei smiled and squeezed her hand; the king had deciphered some of their interactions by now. Comfort.

"Alright," the king conceded. "I will not push the issue further. Rei-chan, you're the daughter I've welcomed into my home. I am deeply sorry I have tried to push this on you." Rei smirked at him as Minako cut her eyes at her wife. He couldn't decipher this gesture.

"You're forgiven, Dad… So when do I get to meet the priest?" 


End file.
